It is often desirable to retrieve litter items from the ground with a retrieving device to eliminate the need for bending over to lift the litter items. It would be a benefit, therefore, to have a litter retrieving device that included a spike that could be used to pierce the item to be lifted. Because spikes can be dangerous if exposed all the time, it would be a further benefit to have a litter retrieving device that included a retractable spike. In addition, because litter pickup is often best accomplished in the early morning hours before the heat of the day makes working outside undesirable, it would be a further benefit to have a litter retrieval device that included an illumination mechanism to provide illumination to the pointed tip area of the spike to allow the user to positively identify the litter item before it is pierced with the spike.